A peek at our family's journey through homeschooling, raw food and living life.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Matcha Milkshakes

One of my favorite memories of my time in Patagonia, AZ, was when I would sit in the shade with my Cafe Sisters on a hot Arizona day, and sip on a tall glass of Matcha Milkshake. It was always wonderful, and by midway through our drink we would all have smiles spreading from ear to ear. If you can get your hands on some of the scrumptious DoMatcha brand Matcha, I can't recommend it enough.

For those of you new to the concept of Matcha, Matcha is a powdered green tea originating in China by Zen Buddhists, and brought to Japan in the year 1191 where it continued to be important within the Zen monasteries. Matcha is prepared in a different manner than traditional green tea. Weeks before the plant is harvested, the plant is placed under shade, removing it from direct sunlight and forcing the it to take up more nutrients and minerals from the soil, resulting in the formation of amino acids. The finest buds are hand-picked, laid flat to dry and then ground into a fine powder. When consuming Matcha, the powder is added directly to the drink, where all of the nutrients are taken into the body, verses steeping the leaves and discarding the leaf. The resulting product leading to a blissful, peaceful, awakened state.

Traditionally, Matcha is consumed in a ceremony, however, living in the west, and not being exposed to the sacredness of this tea, I learned to drink Matcha as a blissful, summertime drink. All of my ladies have their own rendition of the drink, I will provide you with my favorite recipe, but please, the fun is in experimenting and finding the combination that most tickles YOUR taste buds.

And if my Cafe Sisters are reading this, I love you and can't wait for our next Matcha break!!!